06/26/09

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) _ The U.S. Forest Service says it has a
done a lot more forest thinning to protect rural homes from
wildfire than a study by outside scientists indicates _ though it
still falls short of the goal set by Congress.

National Fire Director Tom Harbour said Friday that by its count
43 percent of the 10.8 million acres treated by federal agencies in
recent years was in and around communities threatened by wildfire.

That compares to 11 percent of 7.4 million acres in a study
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Congress called for 50 percent.

University of Colorado fire ecologist Tania Schoennagel
(SHONE-nah-gel), lead author of the study, said different
definitions and constraints in the two analyses could account for
the differences.

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